Dust guard and oil seal



July 26, 1955 J. .1. HENNEssY 2,714,023

DUST GUARD AND OIL. SEAL Filed Aug. 9, 1951 f/ FIGA. /f

V @m i f5 g A E Z Eli 4 f sfi United States Patent O DUST GUARD AND OIL SEAL Application August 9, 1951, Serial No.`241,016

6 Claims. (Cl. 286-6) This invention relates to railway axle and associated journal box structure and consists in a`seal for preventing the passage of dust or oil through the opening in the rear wall of the journal box surrounding the axle. The present invention utilizes some of the features of an earlier application, led April 20, 1951, Serial No. 222,043, and includes improvements thereon.

The main object of the invention is to effectively close oh. the space between the axle and the box end wall and at the same time readily accommodate variations in the dimensions of the axle and journal box, due to manufacturing or wear conditions, and also to accommodate relative movement of the box'and axle longitudinally of their length as may arise from curved track, track irregularities, etc., or transversely of their length as may arise from brake action, or from the jacking up of the box, for example, when the journal bearing is to be removed for inspection or replacement.

Another object is to form a dust guard and oil retainer of separate units, one to be applied to the journal and one to be applied to the usual pocket at the rear end of the box to facilitate assembly with the journal and box, irrespective of variations in the journal and box due to manufacturing conditions or wear to make replacement easy, as may be necessary because of wearing of the seal itself, and to aitord greater exibility in the operation of the seal under extreme conditions.

Another object is to check the ilow of oil to the seal` direct by associating therewith a throw-oil:` ring mounted on the journal in advance of the seal.

These and other detail objects, as will be understood from the following disclosure, are attained by the structure illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through an ordinary American Association of Railroads (A. A. R.) journal box, showing the same mounted on the end of an axle and also showing a portion of the associated wheel hub, with the dust and oil seal device applied.

Figure 2 is an end view of the seal structure looking in the direction of the arrow A in Figure l, a portion of one of the seal parts being broken away to better illustrate the assembly.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section of the seal parts and adjacent journal and box portions shifted from the position shown in Figure 1.

The journal box 1, bearing 2, wedge 3, and axle 4, with journal 5, and an intermediate shouldered portion 6 correspond to the usual construction of American Association of Railroads (A. A. R.) axle and journal box and the box includes inner and outer end walls 7 and 8, forming with the bottom and sides of the box an open top pocket structure such as receives the usual dust guard and may receive one of the main parts of the present dust guard and oil retainer.

The device comprises two main parts; a sleeve-like part 10, applied to the axle shouldered portion 6, and a disclike part 11, seated in the box pocket. The major element 12 of sleeve part 10 is formed preferably of molded 2,714,023 Patented July 26, 1955 Vce rubber or synthetic of such composition and thickness as to be form-sustaining but readily distortable to meet the requirements. The right hand end of element 12 includes.`an inturned rim consisting of spaced ribs 13, the edges of which oppose the axle portion 6. The remainder of element 12 extends parallel to and spaced from the surface of axle portion 6. Preferably it is grooved at 14 and forms a concave seat for disc part 11.

Part'll comprises an annular ring 15 of material similar to sleeve 10, having ribs 16 at one side for yielding contact with the box rear wall 8. Applied to the opposite face of ring 15 is one, or more, rings 17 of plywood or metal or both of substantial rigidity and mounting a series of springs 18 compressible between part 11 and the box inner end wall 7 to thrust ribs 16 against wall S and effect a seal.

Preferably a ring 19 of felt or like material is confined in the sleeve rim between ribs 13 and contacts the axle portion 6 and may be removed without the necessity of replacing the remainder of the seal.

To avoid undue distortion of the right hand end of the sleeve, and particularly distortion which would cause the inturned rim and its filler 19 to leave the journal, there yis provided a channel retainer 23 of metal, enclosing most of the rim and preventing its stretching or distorting as a whole beyond its original diameter.

The effectiveness of the device is increased by providing a throw-oli ring 20 for axle portion 6 in advance of the sleeve. Ring 20 has an inturned ange 21, to extend over the corner of the shouldered portion of the axle, and one or more radial flanges 22 to interrupt the passage of oil along the journal and axle towards the seal.

As the journal plays back and forth in the axle box, the inner periphery of ring 15 may slide along sleeve 10 or may ex as shown in Figure 3 to accommodate the relative movement of the box and axle. Similarly, if wear permits the box and journal to play back and forth at right angles to the length of the axle, sleeve 10, and possibly ring 15, will flex to accommodate such movement. If the box is jacked up to remove the bearing and wedge, the seal parts will yield to accommodate such displacement of the journal and box.

The parts may be formed of material other than rubber or the more familiar plastics. For example, the major elements of the sleeve and disc parts may be formed of flexible metal and other variations in the structure may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the exclusive use of such modifications as come within the scope of the claims is contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a railway axle box oil retainer and dust guard, a ring-like part of flexible material with an inturned rim having an aperture to snugly receive a portion of an axle, there being a sleeve projecting lengthwise from said rim axially of said aperture and spaced radially from the inner periphery of said aperture, there being a retainer of relatively unyielding material surrounding said rim to limit the distortion of its aperture periphery, and an annular disc-like part spaced from said retainer and having an aperture of less diameter than said sleeve, surrounding and compressing the sleeve and extending radially therefrom to engage a wall of a journal box dust guard pocket.

2. A railway axle box dust guard and oil retainer cornprising a sleeve-like part having an inturned portion at one end with a circular aperture for snugly fitting around an axle, the remainder of said part being of substantially larger internal diameter than said aperture and having a peripheral groove on its outer face, a disc-like part surrounding said sleeve-like part and tting within said groove, and a throw-ofi ring associated with the other end of said sleeve-like part and having an internal diameter corresponding to the diameter of said aperture and having an outside diameter less than the inside diameter of the adjacent end of the sleeve-like part.

3. In combination, a railway axle having a journal and a shouldered portion adjacent to the journal, a journal box mounted on said journal and having spaced end walls apertured for the axle and forming a dust guard pocket adjacent to said portion, a liexible sleeve surrounding said portion and having an inturned rim at one end yieldingly engaging said shouldered portion and movable therewith, the remainder of the sleeve extending lengthwise of the shouldered portion and being spaced therefrom and being distortable transversely of the journal axis, a disc received in the journal box pocket and seated against an end wall thereof and having an aperture receiving said sleeve at a point on the latter spaced a substantial distance from said inturned rim, the diameter of said aperture being less than the normal outer diameter of said sleeve.

4. In combination, a railway axle having a journal and a shouldered portion adjacent to the journal, a journal box mounted on said journal and having spaced end walls, with openings for the axle substantially larger in diameter than said portion, forming a dust guard pocket adjacent to said portion, a sleeve of flexible material surrounding said portion and having an inturned rim yieldingly engaging said shouldered portion and movable therewith, the remainder of the sleeve extending lengthwise of the shouldered portion and being spaced therefrom and readily distortable transversely of the journal axis, a disc received in the journal box pocket and bearing against an end wall thereof and extending towards the axle a substantial distance beyond the edges of said openings and tightly fittingA said sleeve, said disc part being tlexible lengthwise of the axle adjacent to the sleeve to accommodate relative movement of the axle and box without aiecting the iit between the sleeve and disc.

5. A combination as described in claim 4 which includes a throw-olf ring fitting on the axle shouldered portion adjacent to the end of said sleeve spaced from its inturned rim.

6. A combination as described in claim 4 which includes a throw-olf ring fitting over the end of the shouldered portion ofthe axle and extending along the shoulder beneath the portion of the sleeve spaced from its inturned rim and terminating in an exterior peripheral rib.

References Cited in the ile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

